Carolyn’s Success With A School Student
Carolyn received the following email from the parent of a school student. “Hi Carolyn, It’s amazing to see how happy he is and we just hope it stays that way – even if that means he would rather be there. That is the dream, right?! Thank you again for all of your help and guidance […]
Kelly’s Journey With Tucker
Life does not always happen on a linear path and for many of the students and families I work with, there have been a few curves along the way. Sometimes, it is messy. And that is okay, it’s just life. At McMillan Education, I have the opportunity to work with students and families who aren’t […]
Edith’s Journey With Jeff
When Jeff’s parents first came to meet with me three years ago, Jeff was struggling as he neared the end of his freshman year at a small, prestigious boarding school in the Boston area. As Jeff would later write, all “I wanted to do was have fun and hang out with friends instead of doing […]
Amy’s Journey With Lily
My most successful students all have two very important qualities in common: humility and an absolutely tireless work ethic. They reached their final destination after a long, exhausting journey of writing many essay drafts, toiling over their supplements, and putting just as much effort and care into the applications, interviews, college visits, and demonstrated interest […]
Don’s Shared Journey with Conor and Ava
During a recent dreary November afternoon, with the COVID-clouded sun setting way too early and the electoral votes trickling in way too slowly, the thought of Conor and Ava lifted my spirits. On the one hand, these two long-time students of mine are brother and sister from Nahant (which they remind me is pronounced with […]
Bill Southwick Success Story
McMillan Education partners with BUILD Boston, an innovative non-profit that provides entrepreneurship experience and guidance for students from underserved communities. Each year, participants also work on a pro bono basis with McMillan counselors on their college applications in the McMillan Scholars program. The benefits of the relationship go both ways – we are able to […]
Jamie Paul Success Stories
At McMillan Education we like to show the success stories of our students through the lens of their counselors who develop their deep connection with them. Here you will find Jamie Paul write about his relationship with two students. Like most people these days, social and racial justice readings, podcasts (I recommend Nice White Parents […]
Camila – International Applicant
Camila from South America brought a very strong academic record to her search for American universities. But she needed help with the extra elements in the American process. In our initial consultation, we recommended she build on her passions and start a literary club at her international school, join the debate club run by her […]
Stefano – International Applicant
Two years ago we met Stefano during his junior year when he joined a group from his European high school for a talk about college admissions here in our Boston office. We impressed upon the students the importance of ‘test driving’ an American campus during the summer. And Stefano discovered that even though he spoke […]
Lucia – International Applicant
Friends of Lucia in Europe had worked with us for university placement, and when we did our initial Skype with her, we learned Lucia was halfway through her junior year and wanted to study business in the US. But she was finding the bilingual Spanish-English International Baccalaureate program too demanding, especially with its broad-based curriculum […]
Steven – School Applicant
Steven came to us halfway through 5th grade, and when we met with him and his mother during our initial consultation, we learned he loved math and sports, but had started to dislike school since being put in the Blue Jay reading group, which, he said through tears, “is the one everyone knows is for […]
Mary – College Athletics Applicant
Mary, from Vancouver, British Columbia attended a competitive independent day school. Highly accomplished in a broad range of activities, Mary was an excellent student and had taken AP classes in almost every subject area. She was a Prefect at her school and she was a national level field hockey player. Mary was an incredibly hard […]
John – College Applicant
John was a boarder at a highly competitive school in the Boston area. He had been a client of ours for secondary school placement and returned to McMillan Education for the college search. John’s parents are divorced and had different thoughts on goals for John’s college experience. John was a very independent and creative young […]
Sarah – Arts Focused College Applicant
Sarah attended a large public exam school in Boston. She was a very solid B/B+ student. She had taken five AP courses and was ranked in the top quarter of her class. Sarah served on a city-wide Youth Council, and also worked week-ends at her parents’ local restaurant. Sarah was an exceptional actress, and had […]
Greg – School Applicant
Greg was in 10th grade at a large, public, urban high school. An endearing, articulate, straightforward young man, by the middle of 10th grade, Greg felt lost at his high school and was losing motivation. Greg didn’t know how to study, he didn’t know how to “try”, even though he sought extra help and tried […]